There should be a new simpler standards framework for housing, in return for a set of minimum national design standards for all new homes, according to a report from CABE.
Simpler and Better: Housing Design in Everyone's Interest argues that smarter regulation would give consumers a guarantee that homes and neighbourhoods are well designed everywhere.
The current mix of standards required by building regulations, planning policy and funders desperately needs rationalisation. CABE is proposing replacing this with a single set of clear requirements by which developments are designed, judged and developed through the planning system, and specifically identifying those that should be delivered through the building regulations.
Richard Simmons, CABE Chief Executive, points out that the maxim of the day is doing more with less, not simply doing less. He said
"We all recognise that the current mix of standards is complicated, overlapping and inefficient. The industry needs a consistent set of standards - and the consumer and the community a guarantee of homes that are good enough.
"Minimum design standards for housing should clarify exactly what is required to meet environmental commitments and the basic needs of communities and residents. This would establish the basis upon which local authorities and communities can decide what works for their area, but below which developers would not be able to go."
Simpler and Better draws on expert workshops run by CABE to explore the practical action and policy changes needed to transform housing design quality.
Getting better design for new homes and the neighbourhoods in which they sit has been one of the more intractable challenges faced by Government.
The report analyses why the market alone is unlikely to deliver good housing design consistently in Britain. This is a combination of the culture and economics of housing provision and the particular ways in which town planning works and the industry is structured and financed.
Simpler and Better also makes the obvious point that using good architects invariably drives up standards, but too few housebuilders employ this kind of talent or commission it routinely. It argues that publicly funded projects could require the selection of architects by competition.
[KF] The UK's first virtual reality training facility for the construction industry has officially opened in Coventry. It is only the second of its kind in the world, and will enable construction site managers to be trained as though on a real site, using pioneering technology.
The £8.7 million ACT-UK Simulation Centre was opened by Sir John Egan, Chancellor of Coventry University and Chairman of the 1998 Construction Task Force and its report Rethinking Construction.
A 12-metre, panoramic screen recreates a wide variety of scenarios, meaning trainees can be 'virtually' on-site at anything from a small rural affordable housing scheme to an inner-city high-rise office development.
The centre sets a new standard for leadership and management training in the industry, giving site managers the opportunity to deal with demanding lifelike situations and covering issues such as health & safety, waste reduction and team performance.
Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands contributed £6.6 million to fund the centre, which also levered in a further £2.1 million from Coventry University Enterprises Ltd, Construction Skills, Learning and Skills Council Coventry and Warwickshire and construction industry private sector investors.
The innovative technology means trainees can go through the virtual construction site, inspecting building work in close detail, giving them an opportunity to make decisions in a safe and controlled environment, supported by individual observation, evaluation and feedback.
The centre was developed by ACT-UK with expert technical consultation from the construction industry including NHBC, and supported by the Chartered Institute of Building. It is modelled on the Building Management Simulation Centre in the Netherlands and uses the latest technological advances now available.
Unique Reality Construction Industry Training Centre Opens